Driving of vehicles and locomotives.



H. PIEPER. DRIVING OF VEHICLES AND LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1913.

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H. PIEPER. DRIVING OF VEHICLES AND LOCOMOTIVES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1913.

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Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

HENRI PIEPER, 0F LIEGE, BELGIUM.

if DRlEViING OF VEHICLES AND LOCOMOTIVES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 23,1915.

Application filed June 20, 1913. Serial No. 774,858.

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, HENRI PIEPER, a subject of the King of the Belgians, and residing at Liege, Belgium, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Driving of Vehicles and Locomotives; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the driving of vehicles and locomotives and more particularly to vehicles and locomotives driven by means of internal-combustion engines acting directly upon the axles. Its object is to provide a locomotive or a self-propelling car so designed and constructed as to avoid the many serious objections which are raised from the practical standpoint against the driving of locomotives by means of internal-combustion engines, especially in the case where a great amount of power has to be furnished to the wheels.

It seems, at first sight, that the usual multi-cylinder explosion engine, which can be constructed for a large power so as to balance the masses with an almost mathematical exactness for every speed, represents a source of energy appropriate for the locomotive service. But on account of the restricted transverse dimensions of the locomotive, it is not possible to arrange such a multi-cylinder engine, requiring a con siderable space in the case of a large power, in the most favorable position for the direct mechanical power transmission, this position assuming the axles of the vehicle and the engine shaft to be parallel. If the multicylinder motor is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the frame for the purpose of utilizing advantageously the available space, special power transmission means is necessitated in order to transmit the power of the motor shaft to the vehicle axles inclined thereto at an angle of 90, so as to complicate the whole system and to cause, at any rate, an important loss of energy.

To sum up there are many difficulties to contend with in the adaptation of the usual type of the multi-cylinder internal-combust on engine to directly propelled locomotives. According to my invention, a satisfactory solution of this problem of driving locomotives and cars is obtained by reason of the fact that each driving axle is propelled directly by means of one or more engine units each comprising a cylinder and piston, all the driving pistons of the locomotive being coupled together by means of.

the rails and wheels and suitable connecting rods and shiftedrelatively to each other so as to constitute a driving system equivalent as regards the mechanical and the cyclic working to a single multi-cylinder motor of the same number of cylinders having balanced masses.

My invention may be clearly understood in and by the following description and the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows the embodiment of my invention in the case of a locomotive having four axles each driven by a single cylinder engine. Fig. 2 represents a vehicle according to my invention having two axles each driven by a two-cylinder engine. Fig. 3 shows the propelling system according to my invention applied to a locomotive with three axles each driven by two explosion cylinders. Fig. l illustrates a modification of Fig. 3 employing for each of the three axles a two cylinder engine with balance masses. Fig. 5 shows the embodiment of my invention in the case of a locomotive with bogie carriages.

In the locomotive shown in Fig. 1 each of the four internal-combustion engines 1, 2, 3 and 4 drives directly one of the axles 5, 6, 7 8 constituting the crank shafts. The power units are single cylinder engines having the casing bearing upon the axle and attached to the frame 9 by means of springs 10. These springs prevent variation of the relative position between cylinder and piston by the oscillating of the frame. The four axles are coupled by the corresponding wheels and the rails and by connecting rods 11. The phase displacement of the four stroke cycle engine is analogous to a single four cylinder engine so that the pistons of the engines 1 and t are shifted relatively to those of the engines 2 and 3 through an angle of 180. Similarly, in conformity with the usual type of four cylinder four stroke cycle engines, the working cycle takes place in the different cylinders according to the following table:

Motor. 1. 2. 3. 4.

1st stroke Explosion. Compres- Exhaust.. Suction.

2nd stroke Exhaust... Explosion. Suction... Compres- 3rd stroke Suction... Exhaust.. Oompres- Explosion.

8101]. 4th stroke Compres- Suction... Explosion. Exhaust.

sion.

Obviously, such a propelling system according to my invention is completely equivalent to a single engine having the same number of cylinders and balanced masses and at the same time permits of using in a very advantageous manner for the locomotive traflic the power developed by the internal-combustion engine. Firstly, by driv- .ing directly each propelling axle by an engine the total power is equally distributed on the axle and the wear on the wheels is uniform along the whole locomotive. Further,the power transmission is effected with security and without loss.

The balancing of the masses is obtained with the same exactness as in a single four cylinder engine of the usual type. The wheels act as flywheel masses for the different engines and the coupling of the different axles by the wheels and rails and connecting rods gives a sure and uniform working of the whole propelling system. The cyclic regularity of working is insured for the different cylinders, so as to prevent shock and play. The explosion strokes ofthe different pistons succeed each other so that the different axles are acted upon one after another according to a certain constant cycle. For instance, in the locomotive shown in Fig. 1, assuming the direction ofrotation as indicated by the arrow, the explosions shifted relatively to one another through 180 pass from one axle to the other alternately in the cycle 1, 2, 4, 3.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Fig. 2 only two propelled axles are provided, each driven respectively by a two cylinder engine 14, 15, and 16, 17. The pistons of each pair reach their upper or lower dead positions simultaneously and the phase displacement between the two pairs is 180. As in a single equivalent four cylinder engine, the working cycle in this locomotive is determined according to my invention so that, if for instance in the cylinder 14 the explosion stroke commences, the suction, exhaust and compression strokes take place respectively in cylinders 15, 16 and 17. There -will therefore be a succession of explosions in the cylinders according to the series 14, 17, 15, 16, thus alternately using the two axles for drivlng.

riages 28, 29, at the centers Fig. 3 illustrates an embodiment of my invention in the case of a locomotive provided with three axles 24, 25, 26, each driven respectively by two cylinders 18, 19, and 20, 21, and 22, 23. The three crankshafts 24, 25,26 are shifted relatively to each other in the manner indicated in the crank diagram shown in Fig. 3. Evidently, also in the driving system according to Fig. 3, all the cylinders of the whole locomotive can work together in the case of the four stroke as well as the two stroke cycle in such a manner that an alternate utilization of the three axles and the six cylinders takes place. In using four stroke engines, the explosions succeed each other with intervals of 120 and in the case of two stroke engines, of 60. In utilizing two or more motor units for the propelling of each axle, the different pistons may be coupled with the corresponding axle so that already each driving shaft and the pistons connected therewith constitute a inulti-cylinder engine having balanced masses, as will be understood from Fig. 4, which shows a locomotive with three axles 51, 52, 53, each driven respectively by two cylinder motors 54, 55, 56. The pistons of each pair of cylinders are shifted relatively to each other through 180 so as to constitute a balanced unit as regards each axle. The phase displacement between the three axles is 120 so that the whole driving system is equivalent to a normal six cylinder motor.

Fig. 5 shows the application of my invention to a locomotive having two bogie carof rotation (30, 31) of which the frame 27 is arranged. Each of the two carriages comprises two axles 32, 33 and 34, 35, driven respectively by the explosion motors 36, 37, and 38, 39 and 40, 41 and 42, 43 and coupled together by means of connecting rods 44 and 45. The phase displacement between the different pistons will be understood from the crank diagram indicated in Fig. 5 assuming the four stroke engines to be used. Thus, for instance, supposing that in the cylinder 36 the explosion stroke begins, in 37 the suction stroke in 38 the compression stroke and in 39 the exhaust stoke and that the cylinder 40 expands, 41 draws in, 42 compresses and 43 expels, then a succession of explosions from one cylinder to the other results according to the series 36, 42, 38, 41, 37, 43, 39, 40. Consequently, the different working strokes are distributed to the axles in the order 32, 35, 33, 34. It will be understood that such a working cycle corresponds exactly to that of a single eight-cylinder fourstroke motor having balanced masses.

Of course, the constructions described above do not give all the embodiments with in the scope of my invention which can be realized by using any number of cylinders and driving axles and any usual type of four or two stroke cycle engines.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A motor vehicle comprising in combination a pluralityof driving wheels, independent internal-combustion engines, crank shafts therefor and constituting the driving axles, means for assuring between the different cranks and crank shafts of the whole vehicle a phase displacement so that all the independent internal combustion engines constitute a driving unit equivalent to a single multi-cylinder motor having the same number of cylinders and balanced masses.

2. A motor vehicle comprising in combination driving wheels, crank shafts constituting the driving axles each propelled by the same number of independent internalcombustion cylinders, means for coupling the cranks and the axles together at a phase displacement so as to obtain a. driving unit comprising all the independent engines of the whole vehicle and being equivalent, as regards the mechanical and cyclic working, to a simple multi-cylinder engine having the same number of cylinders and balanced masses.

3. A motor vehicle comprising in combination driving axles, independent internalcombustion engines, each driven directly by the same number of independent internal combustion cylinders, means for coupling together the pistons of each independent engine group acting upon a single axle so as to balance the moving masses of each group, means for coupling the diiferent driving axles together with a phase displacement so that all the independent internal-combustion engines of the whole vehicle constitute a driving unit equivalent, as regards the mechanical as well as the cyclic working, to a single multi-cylinder engine having the same number of cylinders and balanced masses.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRI PIEPER.

Witnesses:

E. M. HEPTIRE, G. HAMBINLT.

Gepiea of this patient may he obtained for m cents each, by Mdreasina the ccmmiusioncr of Patent, Waahlngton, D. C." 

